In 2017, Ohio State walked into Ann Arbor with a backup quarterback and a surplus of doubts. The Wolverines took a 14-0 lead early in the second quarter, but the Buckeyes fought back. However, Ohio State’s QB JT Barrett went down with a knee injury when they were trailing 20-14. But those are the moments that Urban Meyer prepares his team for.

Redshirt freshman Dwayne Haskins stepped in for Barrett and led the Buckeyes to a touchdown drive. A field goal and an interception later, the final score read 31-20 in favor of Ohio State. More importantly, Meyer’s winning streak against the team up North was still alive. Looking back, nine years since that game, the former Ohio State head coach thinks he should have toned down some of the things he did to beat Michigan.

“That was every day. That was 365 [days],” Meyer said about his preparation to defeat Michigan on the Breaking Sales Podcast with Dan Lappin. “And that was to the point, people laugh, and I kind of laugh now because I’m out of it and have no desire to get back in. But it’s also unhealthy. To be completely consumed by an opponent, which I was. There was never a day that I didn’t think about beating that team. There was never a day that I didn’t somehow prepare.”

At Ohio State, beating Michigan is not viewed as one game on a schedule. Coaches inherit that expectation the moment they arrive in Columbus. While championships and playoff appearances matter, losing to Michigan erases that goodwill. Former head coach John Cooper won 111 games at Ohio State but finished only 2-10-1 against Michigan. He never escaped criticism over it.

Meanwhile, Jim Tressel went 9-1 against the Wolverines and remains a Buckeye icon partly because of that success. The standard has survived every coaching change. Meyer treated the rivalry like a year-round project instead of a one-week event. Recruiting battles were monitored closely. Coaching hires in Ann Arbor drew attention in Columbus. Film study never stopped.

Meyer even made sure players from outside Ohio learned why the rivalry mattered. Many of his recruits came from Texas, Georgia, and Florida, not from Ohio high schools. The history had to be taught before it could be defended.

“I was getting players from Georgia, Texas, St. Louis, you know, everywhere. So, it was my job to indoctrinate them into that rivalry,” Meyer said. “How do you do that? You educate them. And so, there was something always going on in that facility about how to beat that team.”

Many things worked in Meyer’s favor during his 7-0 run. Ohio State recruited at an elite level and usually entered the game with more speed on offense. However, even when they were not favored, Meyer found a way to win.

Urban Meyer’s approach worked against Michigan even when the odds were stacked against him

Meyer’s teams rarely beat themselves with penalties or turnovers in the rivalry. OSU scored at least 30 points in six of the seven meetings under Meyer. Yet Meyer was not beating weak Michigan teams. His first two wins came against teams coached by Brady Hoke, including the memorable 42-41 game in 2013 that was decided when Michigan failed on a two-point conversion attempt in the final minute. Then Jim Harbaugh arrived, and he quickly raised standards in Ann Arbor. Still, Meyer never lost his rhythm.

In 2018, Michigan entered the ‘Game’ ranked fourth, with many analysts favoring them. But it didn’t matter. Ohio State won 62-39, a victory that ranks among its greatest offensive performances in the rivalry. But Meyer’s thinking did not appear from nowhere. He grew up in Ohio and played for legendary coach Earle Bruce at Ohio State as a graduate assistant. Bruce drilled the importance of “The Game” into young coaches around him. That culture shaped him long before he became a head coach himself.

Looking back, Meyer might have done things differently against Michigan. But we all know that without that 7-0 record, Meyer wouldn’t earn that almost untouchable status in OSU’s legends list, despite the national title. That 365-day preparation was what kept the players ready for every situation against Michigan.